


Black Roses

by SophiaMaria



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Action/Adventure, Friendship, Hogwarts Era, The Quidditch Pitch: From Diagon Alley to Hogwarts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-06-06
Updated: 2007-06-06
Packaged: 2018-10-27 09:15:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10806186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SophiaMaria/pseuds/SophiaMaria
Summary: A visit from an old friend brightens Sirius’s day while he’s sequestered at Grimmauld   Place. Part of my Knight of the Rose Series, which features an OFC, so it may be helpful to read Knight of the Rose to understand the character.





	Black Roses

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Annie, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [The Quidditch Pitch](http://fanlore.org/wiki/The_Quidditch_Pitch), which went offline in 2015 when the hosting expired, at a time I was not able to renew it. I contacted Open Doors, hoping to preserve the archive using an old backup, and began importing these works as an Open Doors-approved project in April 2017. Open Doors e-mailed all authors about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact us using the e-mail address on [The Quidditch Pitch collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/thequidditchpitch/profile).

  
Author's notes: Set in my Knight of the Rose series. Can be read separately, but you may want to read KotR first to understand my OFC and her role in the lives of our favorite canon characters.  


* * *

  
The floo in the kitchen of 12 Grimauld Place flared green.

"Sirius? Hello! Anyone there? Sirius? Remus?" called a woman's voice.

An old, disheveled house elf in a dirty and tattered kitchen towel stepped into the view from the fireplace.

"Oh," he said. "It's that mudblood-loving witch who claims to be a Black. She says she's a member of my Mistress's family, but I know she's not a true Black." He muttered to himself, not realizing or caring that the floo caller could hear him. 

"Kreatcher, I _am_ a member of the family," said the woman's voice. "You know that. Your master was my father's cousin, and although I don't have the Black name, I _am_ a member of the family," she said patiently, as if she had this discussion with the old house elf every time she called. "Now would you please get Sirius for me?"

The old elf turned and shuffled out of the room, muttering something about tapestries and burn marks.

A moment later, Sirius Black, barefoot and clad in jeans and an old grey pullover, entered the kitchen. He looked thin but was smiling as he approached the floo. "Therese! What a nice surprise!"

"Hello Sirius," answered Marie Therese von Werdenberg, Sirius's second cousin. "How are you?"

"Okay, all things considered," he said as he crouched down in front of the fireplace. "Though I do wish I could get out of this house," he said morosely. "Hardly anyone comes around now that Dumbledore has gone into hiding. Order meetings are few and far between and only Remus and Tonks use the house as a base of operations these days." 

"I'm sure that must be hard for you. Actually, Sirius, I'm calling to see if Albus is there. I have some information he wanted." 

"He's not here, but _please_ , Therese, floo over and come talk with me," he pleaded. "I'd love to have a chat. We really haven't talked much this year. I'll buy you a drink!"

Marie Therese chuckled and agreed to a visit. A moment later the floo flared and out stepped a tall, slim woman with long dark brown hair and bright blue eyes. She pulled out her wand and did a quick _Scourgify_ to remove the traces of soot from her immaculate, slim-cut robes, long black skirt and high-heeled boots. 

"Mon Cousin," she said as she walked toward Sirius with her arms outstretched to greet him.

"Resi," Sirius said, as he pulled her into a loose embrace and kissed her on each cheek. 

She laughed. "Oh Sirius, I haven't heard that name in so long! You were the only cousin to call me that, you know," she said, looking into his face.

"It suits you. It was a perfect name for the pretty girl you were and it still fits the woman you've become. I couldn't believe it was you when I first saw you again last summer. You've grown into a real beauty, you know," he said, tapping her lightly on the nose, his arm still around her waist.

She blushed. "Sirius, you always were a charmer!"

"God, I've missed you, Therese!" he said, hugging her again warmly.  
  
"I'm so sorry I've not been around more this past year, Sirius. I know how lonely you've been. I just haven't been able to come by as much as I'd like," she said, as they pulled apart.

"Sit, Therese, sit," he said, pulling out a chair at the kitchen table and sliding it in for her as she sat down. "I promised you a drink. Firewhisky?"

"God, no! I can only handle that late at night, and only when listening to depressing opera," she said, laughing, as she settled back into her chair.  
  
"Then how about a glass of wine?" he offered, turning to the kitchen counter and pulling a bottle from a wine rack. "I've got a nice bottle that Dumbledore picked up for me in Spain when he was there last week."

"Is he trying to turn you into a lonely drunk?" she said, honestly perplexed by Albus giving alcohol to someone already on the brink of heavy depression.

"No, he just remembers my fondness for Spanish reds. He made me promise not to drink it alone. And now I have a beautiful woman to share it with!" he said, disengaging the cork with an expert flick of his wand and pouring two glasses.

"So, what's been keeping you so busy, Resi?" he asked, sitting down on the chair next to hers and placing a glass of the ruby-colored liquid in front of her. 

"Oh, this and that," she said, picking up the glass, swirling it around and taking a deep sniff. "My work at St. Mungo's mostly. I've been setting up a program to improve customer relations. Right now they have such surly greeters. I've been organizing customer service workshops and establishing better protocols for patient intake." 

"That sounds, um, exciting?" he said, raising an eyebrow at her. "Doesn't sound like the fun-loving cousin I used to know."

"I know, I do live quite a dull life," she said, taking a tentative sip.

"That's not what I heard," he said, giving her mischievous grin that made her stop and blush mid-sip.

"Well, I have to stay busy. The wife of a high-ranking Ministry official needs to keep up appearances and do her charity work," she said, innocently. 

"Oh Therese, you can do so much more! You were the smartest witch in your year at Hogwarts. You could have been in Ravenclaw, you know."

"I know," she said, resignedly. "Actually, the sorting hat wanted to put me in Ravenclaw, but my father had drilled it into my head that every Black had been in Slytherin, and I knew that I'd be a horrible disappointment to him if I were sorted elsewhere, so I asked the hat to put me there."

Sirius laughed. "That doesn't sound like the Resi I knew. You never seemed to care about what anyone thought."

"I cared about what my _father_ thought - more than anything else in the world when I was that age," she said, remembering the close relationship she had with her father. "But that soon changed once I started hanging around the Marauders!" she said with a wicked grin.

Sirius smiled back at her and took her hand. "So why are you settling for being a society matron these days?" he asked.  
  
"I just haven't really found anything that grabs my attention," she said. "I don't need to work for money, so I like to go where I feel needed. I _do_ feel needed at the hospital, and I love my work in the children's ward. Plus, I have my work with the Order, and all of my traveling."

"Yes, you do travel quite a bit. I hardly saw you this year," he said, pulling his hand away and scowling into his wine as he swirled it in his glass. 

"I really am sorry I haven't come by more often. I know you needed company," she said, reaching for his hand again. He took it, gave it a quick squeeze and released it again.

"So, how is Harry?" she asked, changing the subject. "Have you heard from him lately?"

"Harry's doing OK," Sirius said thoughtfully. "He seems troubled lately. But then when has he _not_ been troubled?" he said with a rueful laugh. 

Marie Therese looked at him with concern. "What's the matter now?"

"Well, we've all had a bit of a rough year, what with all of the trouble at Hogwarts with that Umbridge woman, our problems guarding the Department of Mysteries, Sturgis's arrest, and Arthur's attack by that snake at Christmas," he listed, ticking each problem off on his fingers.

"Yes, it was quite remarkable that Harry was able to alert everyone. He really did save Arthur's life," she said, remembering the events of the previous Christmas. She hadn't been around to help out, as she was in Vienna for her family's holiday celebrations and didn't hear about the attack until after her return.

"Well, unfortunately Harry blamed himself for the attack, given that he was inside the mind of the snake in his dream. He actually thought that HE had attacked Arthur. It took a lot of convincing by his friends, particularly Arthur's daughter Ginny, to convince him otherwise," he drained his glass and reached for the bottle.

"Why Ginny in particular?" she asked, taking another deep sip from her glass, trying to keep up with Sirius's consumption. 

"Well, do you remember a few years ago when the Chamber of Secrets had been opened and several students were petrified by that basilisk?" he asked, pouring himself another glass.

"Yes, I do recall that," she said. "Albus told me they almost closed down the school. One of Harry's friends was one of the victims, right?" She took another sip, draining her glass and putting it in front of Sirius for a refill.

"Yes, Hermione Granger. I was still in Azkaban, so I wasn't around, but Remus told me the story," he said, refilling her glass. "Molly and Arthur have kept this quiet until recently and they don't want it to get around, so don't share this with anyone, but it was actually Ginny that opened the Chamber. Seems Voldemort had gotten into her mind and was controlling her through an enchanted diary that had found its way into her hands."

Marie Therese gasped. "That was Ginny? Oh, the poor dear. Molly and Arthur must have been beside themselves when they found out!"

"They were. It was Harry that found her near death in the Chamber. He and Ron tried to rescue her but they were stopped by a rockfall in the tunnel leading to the Chamber. Harry left Ron behind and made his way to the Chamber alone, apparently battled and killed the basilisk with the Sword of Gryffindor, and saved the princess from the clutches of the evil wizard," he said, chuckling at the picture he painted.

"Really? I hadn't heard the rest of the story," she said. "Wow, he must have been in, what, his second year?"

Sirius nodded.  
"Remarkable," she said, shaking her head. "I'd only heard that Harry helped close up the Chamber, but I hadn't known about him killing the basilisk or that Ginny had been down there too." She paused, taking a sip of her wine. "Well, when you put it that way, it really does sound like a fairy tale! 

Sirius laughed. "And the hero, the princess, and the sidekick were pulled off into the sunset by a flying phoenix and lived happily ever after!"

She laughed at her cousin. "Well, almost. It's not over yet, unfortunately," she said, looking into her glass. "That poor, brave boy. He's been through so much and he just keeps getting stuck back in the middle of things. That tournament last year, the death of his classmate, and the confrontation with Voldemort in that graveyard. It's too much for anyone to handle, let alone a young boy. No wonder he looked so sad and lost when I saw him last summer," she said, taking another sip of her wine.

"Yes, he's had a rough go of it. And as I said, Harry was feeling pretty guilty this Christmas, but Ginny talked some sense into him and he seems to be handling things better now."

"Even with that horrid Umbridge woman taking over Hogwarts?" she asked.

"Well, that's been pretty rough on him, I guess," said Sirius, looking thoughtfully into his glass. "Did you hear about his lifetime ban from playing Quiddich?" 

"What? How did that happen?"

"Seems he and the Weasley twins got into a fight with our dear little cousin Draco and some other Slytherins, and the three of them have been banned for life," Sirius said with an angry scowl.

"That's horrid!" she exclaimed. "A completely overwrought punishment. I'll have to see what I can do for them at the Ministry. I have a friend in the Department of Games and Sports." 

"That would be great, Therese. Sometimes I think Quiddich is the only thing that keeps the kid sane," Sirius said, looking up at the ceiling, thinking. "You know, Snape has been teaching him Occlumency to keep Voldemort out of his head."

"Really? I can't imagine that's going well, given how Severus felt about James," she said, taking another sip of her wine. 

"Yes, I'm afraid it's not going well at all. Harry told me that he stumbled across one of Snape's memories - that day by the lake after the O.W.L. exam in my 5th year."

"Was that the day that he called Lilly a mudblood in front of all of you?"

"Yes, that's the one," said Sirius, scowling.

"I remember that day. I'd been sitting by the lake with my friends, not too far from where Lilly was sitting with her friends. What happened? How did he find the memory? Was it in a Pensieve?" 

"Yes. Apparently Snape had put the memory in a Pensieve before their Occlumency lesson and Harry somehow got into it. When Snape found him in the memory, he screamed at Harry and kicked him out of his office, and now refuses to give him any more lessons," he said, anger evident in his voice.

"Oh dear, what a horrible mess!"

"I know. He really needs to keep Voldemort out of his mind right now," he said. "But I think the hardest part for Harry is that he saw me and James at our worst, tormenting Snape like that. I'm not proud of my actions back then, but Snape had it coming to him more often than not. Harry was horrified at what he saw. I'm sure up until then he'd looked at his father as a mythical figure - all perfect, smart, brave, and talented. He was so distraught that he flooed me a few weeks ago to ask me about it." 

"He flooed you? Oh Sirius, I thought the floos were being monitored by the Ministry. You could have been caught!" she gasped.

"The only floo that's operational at Hogwarts is the one in Umbridge's office and I believe it's a secure connection. Harry's friends apparently created a diversion so he could break in and call me. He's learned quite a bit from his Marauding forebears!" Sirius laughed. 

"Oh, did any of them get caught?" she asked, her brow furrowing in concern.

"Nope. Well, I take that back. Fred and George Weasley were caught, but they got away. They summoned their brooms, which Umbridge had confiscated when she imposed the Quiddich ban, and flew away in a glorious flurry," he said, gesturing upward with his arms. "But only after creating as much havoc as they could, including a permanent swamp in one of the corridors!" 

Marie Therese laughed, shaking her head as she thought of the twins, who reminded them of some boys she once knew in school. "So that was the infamous day that they ran away from Hogwarts to open their joke shop?" Though she wasn't around much, Marie Therese made a point of keeping up with Order gossip and knew most of what had been going on with its members and their families. 

"Sure was. Molly was livid. They came here for a few days to escape her wrath, but the howlers quickly found them. She'll get over it, though, once she sees how successful they're bound to be with their business."

"Oh, I'm sure they will be quite successful," she said knowingly. "I'm actually thinking of investing in them myself. I'd like them to explore developing some creative ‘weapons' in our battle against the Death Eaters." 

"Now that's an interesting thought," Sirius said, laughing. "I'm sure that if you were to merge your sharp brain with their twisted ones, the Death Eaters won't stand a chance!" 

"I can think of a few Marauders who could also help as well. I'm sure you and Remus could lend your creative minds to the cause," she said, smiling at her cousin.

Sirius's smile turned into a pensive frown as he looked into his glass. "I find myself thinking about our Hogwarts days quite a bit lately. I really do miss James a lot."

"Oh, Sirius, I know you do. I miss them both," she said quietly. "Lilly was a good friend to me."

"And I think of James every time I look at Harry."

They both sat, silently drinking their wine for a few moments and thinking about the past. 

Sirius looked up suddenly, a sly grin on his face, and leaned toward his cousin. 

"So, Resi," Sirius said, taking her hand. "Tell me about your current lover!"

Therese choked on her wine. "Sirius! Whatever do you mean?"

"I head from a reliable source in the Order that you and Stephan have a certain kind of ... _arrangement_ in your marriage, and that you take full advantage," he said, raising his eyebrows at her.

"Who told you that?" she asked, startled.

"I can't reveal my sources," he said slyly. 

She blushed with embarrassment, wondering who in the Order knew her secret. She was very quiet about her affairs and she was hesitant to confide in Sirius, but the wine was working its magic on her normal reserve and discretion, and she felt the need to talk to someone about her "extracurricular" activities. She rarely talked to anyone other than her lovers about her activities, and had nobody else to share her secrets with. Who better than her favorite cousin?

"Well... if you promise not to tell anyone else," she said conspiratorially, leaning toward Sirius. "I suppose I can tell you that I recently had a delightful 3-month fling with a wizard named Paul, who's a member of the Austrian International Wizard Corps. He was stationed in London but was recently transferred to Buenos Aires, so we called it off. Too bad, really," she said, leaning back in her chair, her face flushing from the wine and the memories. "He was very sweet, and quite dishy too!" 

"You scarlet woman!" Sirius teased.

"Yes, I guess I am a bit. But I'm very discrete," she said, lifting her chin defiantly, unashamed. "Just don't tell Molly! I'm sure she has her suspicions, but I don't want them confirmed!" Sirius laughed at Marie Therese and stroked her hand with his thumb.

"You are still the flirt you were back in school," he said, looking into her eyes.

"Me, a flirt?" she said, her hand to her chest, scandalized.

"You used to flirt with James and Remus all the time!" he retorted.

"I did not!" she cried. "I was just trying to get the attention of my older cousin, who was too busy chasing every skirt over sixteen!" 

"I noticed you! You were _always_ my favorite cousin. I loved having you around at Hogwarts, though we hardly spent any time with each other," he said. 

"Did you know that I had a huge crush on you?" she asked, blushing slightly. 

"Me? I thought it was James or Remus!" 

"No, dear, it was you," she said, smiling at him fondly. 

"But we grew up together! We're cousins!" he exclaimed.

" _Second_ cousins. They marry all the time in the Muggle aristocracy, and it's practically a mandate to marry in our pureblood circle!"

"Yes, that's true - ‘ _Toujours Pur, we must preserve the pureblood family line_!'" he intoned solemnly, quoting the family patriarchs and matriarchs. 

"Oh, God, I haven't heard that in ages!" She laughed, leaning back in her chair, propping a foot on the rung of Sirius's chair. "Yes, I'm sure our parents wouldn't have minded us marrying. To preserve the pureblood line of course."

"So, Resi, why not James or Remus?" he asked, placing a hand on her knee. "Well, I can understand why not James - he didn't have eyes for anyone but Lilly from as early as our first year. But Remus always liked you."

"Yes," she said. "Remus is a dear, and I _was_ attracted to him, but he always seemed preoccupied and never really dated anyone."

"Ah yes," Sirius said, a faraway look in his eyes. "His ‘furry little problem' always prevented him from seeking out relationships."

"I didn't know about his condition back then, but I did notice that something was wrong. He always kept people at arm's length."

"Yes, and he still does, unfortunately," Sirius said, sadly. "He won't even let Tonks in, and I know he's completely smitten by her." 

"But you, mon cousin," she said, placing her hand on his, still resting on her knee. "You were always larger than life. You always captured my attention - flying through the house to annoy your mother when we were kids, pulling pranks at Hogwarts, breaking away from the family in sixth year. I always watched you," she said, stroking his hand. 

"You know, I always respected you for not following in our family's footsteps," she continued, recalling how her parents had maintained a neutral position in the first war, despite her father's pureblood fetish and strong family connections to both the Blacks and the Malfoys. It was at her mother's insistence that they did not take sides, and Marie Therese knew it was because her mother silently supported Dumbledore and the Order but kept it quiet from her husband and their families.

"Yes," said Sirius. "You, your mother, Andromeda, and Tonks were the only ones I've ever been able to call my family," he said, stroking her hand with his thumb.

"I would have followed you into the Order, but after my seventh year my parents sent me to Vienna to escape the war. And then Lilly and James...." She broke off, looking into her glass and taking large swig of her wine. "I'm sorry, Sirius. I didn't mean to bring that up."

"It's OK, Therese. I can talk about it. I had twelve years to _not_ talk about it," he said bitterly.

"I do so wish I could have done something for you back then. I was still abroad, and by the time they brought me back to Britain, you had already been sent to Azkaban. I had assumed you were guilty," she said softly, not looking at him. 

"I figured that if others believed that you were guilty..." she said, as her voice cracked. "I mean, I figured if _Remus_ had believed that you were guilty, then you probably were, especially given our family's connections to Voldemort..." she broke off as Sirius pulled his hand away from her knee and sat back in his chair. 

She looked up at his expressionless face, his rigid body. Her hand flew to her mouth, horrified at her own words and the blank way he was looking at her. 

She impulsively flung herself at him, her arms around his neck. "Oh, Sirius! I'm so sorry!" she said into his neck. "I'm so sorry that I doubted you, that I didn't believe in you!" He sat stiffly in her arms, not returning the embrace, his arms rigid at his side. 

She continued to cling to him. "Ever since you came back and proved your innocence, I've felt so guilty. If I'd only believed in you, I could have used Stephan's connections to investigate your case and get you released. But I didn't," she cried into his shirt. "I was too cowardly and just went along with everyone else," she cried, pulling away from Sirius's rigid body and sinking to her knees in front of him. 

"I was too caught up in my own life, my own problems with my family and the loss of my mother to think about what you were going through," she cried. "I betrayed you in the worst possible way. And I'll never forgive myself!" 

She sat at Sirius's feet, burying her face in her arms on her cousin's knees. He remained impassive, staring straight ahead with his arms held rigidly at his sides.

"That's why I didn't come around this year," her muffled voice said from his lap. "I couldn't bear to see you, to see the disappointment in your face," she said softly, looking up at him with tears running down her cheeks. "Can you ever forgive me, Sirius?" she asked, trying to keep herself from breaking into sobs.

Sirius looked down at her tearstained face, her bright blue eyes shining with tears, and softened. He relaxed his body and looked at her tenderly, reaching up to wipe away a tear from her cheek with his thumb. 

"It's OK, Resi. There's nothing to forgive," he said, pulling her up onto his lap and circling his arms around her. 

"You couldn't help what you thought," he continued, his face in her hair. "All evidence pointed to me. Peter was far cleverer than any of us gave him credit for. I was the dumb one," he said, pulling away and looking at her. "I should have never trusted him to be the secret keeper. Their deaths are really my fault," he said with a sigh, standing them both up and pulling away.

"Don't say that!" she said angrily, grabbing his shoulders and forcing him to look at her. "Everything that's happened is _Voldemort's_ fault and you know it! Everything that happened to them, everything that's happened to you, Sirius, everything that's happened to Harry, it's all that bastard's fault! Not yours!" she said emphatically, her chest heaving, her eyes boring into him.

He looked back at her for a long moment, studying her face and seeing the intensity and protectiveness on her delicate features, fire flashing behind her cobalt eyes. After a long, silent moment, he smiled softly, brushed another tear off her cheek and said, "So, did you really have a crush on me?" 

"Yes," she said quietly as she sniffed and laughed softly, "I believe I did." 

Sirius looked into her face and slowly leaned toward her, closing his eyes as he brought his lips against hers in a gentle kiss. 

"It's too bad you didn't act on it," he said as he pulled away to gauge her reaction. "We might have been quite a team." He ran a finger down her cheek.

"Yes, we might have been," she said softly as she leaned in, closing her eyes and sliding her lips gently against his. 

He kissed her back, more forcefully and deeply this time, his tongue stroking her lower lip, seeking entrance. She opened her mouth and slid her tongue along his, hearing him moan into her mouth as he pulled her closer. She wrapped her hands around his neck and pulled him closely to her as she tangled her tongue with his.

He sat back down in the chair, pulling her into his lap, one arm around her back, the other buried in her long hair. 

She ran her fingers through his hair and gently stroked his cheek with her other hand. Their mouths moved together, their passion increasing with each thrust of the tongue. He pulled away for a breath, sliding his mouth down to her neck, nuzzling behind her ear. "Oh God, Therese, it's been so long since I've been with a woman." 

"I know. I'm so sorry," she said, rubbing her cheek against him as he burrowed into her hair. 

"Don't be. This is wonderful. So sorry we didn't try this before," he said into her hair. He began placing kisses slowly down her neck until he reached the neckline of her low-cut robes. She stroked his hair as he moved his mouth lower. He unbuttoned the top two buttons on her robes, and she moaned as he stroked her soft skin and placed kisses at the top of her cleavage. His other hand slowly moved down her back to her hips. 

Missing his mouth on hers, she placed her hand under his chin and pulled him back up to claim his lips them once more and explored his mouth with her tongue. 

"Do you want to move upstairs?" he asked huskily, moving his lips back to her neck and running a finger along her neckline, his other hand sliding up her leg. 

She moaned. "Oh, I don't know, Sirius. I'm not sure if we should. It's too complicated," she said, a bit breathlessly. 

"I don't care. I want you, Therese," he said, as he crashed his mouth over hers again, causing her to moan in response and feel herself start to lose control of her senses. She wrapped her arms around him more tightly and moaned as she felt him slide his hand further up her leg. 

He was about to pick her up in his arms to carry her upstairs when they were interrupted by a green flare in the floo. They jumped as it flared a second time and Remus stepped out of the fireplace, followed closely by Tonks, who stumbled out of the fireplace and into Remus's arms. 

The newcomers were too distracted by Tonks' clumsy entrance and the process of _Scourgifying_ the soot from their clothes to notice the other pair hastily straightening clothes and hair and wiping the dazed and embarrassed expressions from their faces. As Remus gently brushed the last of the soot from Tonks's shoulder, Therese and Sirius settled back into their respective chairs at the table, slightly farther apart than they had been at the beginning of the visit, breathing a bit heavily. 

"Wotcher Sirius!" said Tonks as she turned to greet her two cousins seated at the table. "Therese! What a surprise!" she said, and the pair both stood to greet their friends.

"Remus, so good to see you," said Marie Therese as Remus came forward and she kissed him on both cheeks. "Tonks, you too," she said as she kissed her young cousin in the same way. 

"What brings you around, Therese?" asked Remus, taking a chair on the opposite side of the table.

"I came here to deliver a message to Albus," she said. "But I've been having a lovely chat with Sirius," she said, wondering if they could see the telltale marks on her neck or notice that her buttons were still undone.

"Yes, we've been reliving old times," Sirius said, sitting back down in his seat. "Talking about opportunities lost," he said, looking at Marie Therese with a hint of smolder in his brown eyes, and she looked away, blushing. 

He turned to look at Tonks and Remus. "So, what have you two been up to?"

"We were out on surveillance," said Tonks, oblivious to what was passing between her cousins. "Watching a Death Eater base in Devonshire."

"Anything happening?" asked Sirius, eager for news from the outside world. 

"Nah, it was boring. No activity today," said Tonks, giving Remus a look that neither Sirius nor Therese could decipher. Remus returned her look with a bashful grin. 

"Well, I'd better head upstairs for a shower," said Tonks, standing up. "I'm on Auror duty at Hogwarts tonight. I'll be escorting the Ministry officials who are going there to administer the O.W.L.'s and N.E.W.T.'s starting tomorrow." 

"Is it exam time already?" asked Marie Therese. "The school year sure flew by quickly!" 

"Yes, it did," said Remus. "Harry will be taking his O.W.L.'s, and he and the remaining Weasley kids will soon be back for the summer. We'll have to figure out where they'll be staying." 

Sirius gave a snort and Remus turned to him and said, "Yes, Sirius, we already know your feelings on the matter. I know you'd rather have Harry here, but I still think they'd be better off at the Burrow where they can be kids for a while longer. Get some fresh air, play Quiddich. And don't forget that Harry needs to go to the Dursley's for a month or so," Remus said reasonably.

Sirius snorted again but didn't respond. He glowered as he looked at the final drop of wine in his glass.

Tonks bent down to give Therese a kiss on the cheek. "It was good to see you, Therese. You need to come by for dinner sometime," she said as she walked out the door. "I'll see you later, Sirius," she called over her shoulder.

Remus stood up. "And I need to go get ready for my transformation tonight," he said, watching Tonks's slim form as it passed through the kitchen door. 

"Where do you go for that these days, Remus?" asked Marie Therese, concerned about her friend's well being during his difficult transformations.

"I stay here in my room at Grimauld Place. Severus prepares Wolfbane potion for me and Padfoot is kind enough to spend the night with me to keep me company," he said, placing a hand on Sirius's shoulder. "Just like old times, but without the marauding. I guess we old dogs aren't as spry as we used to be!" he said with a chuckle.

"Hey, speak for yourself, you old mutt!" teased Sirius. 

"It was lovely seeing you again, Therese," Remus said, kissing her cheek.

"Good to see you too, Remus," she responded and grasped his hand warmly.

"Come by more often, OK? Sirius needs to see a friendly face now and then," he said before turning and walking out the door. 

After the door closed, Sirius and Marie Therese sat silently for a moment, avoiding each other's eyes.

Finally Sirius said, "So..."

Marie Therese echoed him, "So..."

"What do we do now?" Sirius asked, looking over at his friend.

"I'm afraid that I must go. I need to get home to get ready for a Ministry function tonight. Stephan is taking a Portkey back from Egypt and should be home within the hour," she said, standing and running a hand down her robes to straighten them out. 

"I'm sorry to hear that. Will you come back soon?" he said with a hopeful look in his eyes.

"Of course, Sirius. I will come back to see you," she said, taking his hand as he stood up from his chair to face her. "Unfortunately, I will be traveling with Stephan for the next two weeks. But I'll come by when I return."

"I'd love that," he said, stepping toward her and taking her into his arms for a hug. 

"Be well, Sirius," she said, pulling back and kissing him gently on the lips.

They kissed tenderly for a moment, then pulled away, looking into each other's eyes. 

"You too, Resi."

She let go of Sirius, picked up her bag, grabbed a handful of floo powder and stepped into the flames. 

"Werdenberg Manor," she said and the green flames carried her away as she gave one last look at her cousin. 

After the flames died away, Sirius sat back down in his chair, poured himself another glass of wine and smiled a soft, wistful smile.

**~Fin~**


End file.
